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Crime fiction
Snap
Belinda Bauer
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 433, Paperback

Belinda Bauer’s novel ‘Snap’, inspired by the murder of a pregnant woman, Marie Wilks, on the M50 in 1988, was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. It’s extremely rare for crime fiction to make it to the Man Booker list. But Snap isn’t a run-of-the-mill crime fiction either. In an interview, Bauer said she was more interested in victims than in crimes and, true to her words, Snap focuses more on the repercussions of the crime, in terms of the impact it has on the family of the victim, rather than on the crime itself.

Set in a small British town of Tiveron, Snap tells the story of 14-year-old Jack and his younger sisters following the murder of their mother. After being abandoned by their grief-ridden father, the three children live in a house stacked with newspapers that carry news of their mother’s murder. Jack’s sister continues to collect the papers in what is a macabre way of holding on to her mother’s final memory. Jack has to deal with the trauma of losing his parents while shouldering the responsibility of keeping his family together. It’s a lot for any teenager but Jack manages to keep the family afloat by breaking into homes and stealing whatever he can. There is a horde of other interesting characters whose lives become inextricably linked by this one unsolved murder.

Bauer worked as a journalist and then as a screenwriter before, at the age of 45, she finally sat down to write a book. Better late than never because Snap has both the edge-of-your-seat suspense as well as the turbulence of an emotional rollercoaster. It’s not just a wonderfully crafted novel about a teenage boy’s hunt for his mother’s killer. Bauer also explores how a single crime has so many ripple effects, and how it can affect different people differently. You find yourself pondering how life has the potential to fall apart and maybe eventually come together.

Bauer said that she had “never read anything that was actually marketed as a crime book” and that she started her journey of writing crime fiction “possibly on a different footing to someone who was immersed in the genre”. You are glad it was that way because what’s come out of it is an intriguing tale of loss, trauma, and familial bond, one that alters the way you view life.

The premise that “Cha Cha Hui” tries to build on is interesting. The film is close to the genre of ‘mindless comedy’, which has multiple characters circling their way in and out of conflicting situations, while making viewers laugh at their antics. Just like the famous Indian director Priyadarshan’s classic movies (Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul), Cha Cha Hui sets the stage for an iconic Nepali comedy, but things get awry somewhere. (We’ll come to that.)

In Cha Cha Hui, Prem (Aryan Sigdel) and Bhola (Bholaraj Sapkota) are inseparable friends living in Hong Kong who come across Shyamlal (Maotse Gurung) in a chance meeting. Shyamlal encourages them to return to their homeland. Shyamlal also hands them a book of poems as a parting gift. Now this is where the troubles begin. A book is definitely not to be judged by its cover—and our protagonists find that a little too late.

Cha Cha Hui then takes the audience on a journey from Hong Kong to Kathmandu to Pokhara and then to Mustang, all the while hiding the truth about the book from them as well as from Bhola and Prem. Of course, Prem has to find a love interest in between as we can’t have a comedy movie without romance and here newcomer Miruna Magar fills the shoes as “Sangeeta,” a local from Marpha, Mustang whose family runs a homestay business.

The movie’s trailer released on YouTube back in October revealed what the film is all about. But, again, you can’t judge a book by its cover, and you certainly cannot judge a movie by its trailer. The three-minute trailer promises a fast-paced laugh riot, but the 2hr 5min film is definitely not as entertaining.

What fails it are mainly its screenplay and direction. Despite being a ‘mindless comedy’, the film’s screenplay is so loose it can’t hold the story together. To make matters worse, it unfolds so slowly that it is almost boring. In fact, Director Samten Bhutia fails to get together one convincing sequence to make “Cha Cha Hui” an enjoyable watch.

Bhutia’s other failure is his inability to get a decent cast. Lead actor Sigdel might be an established star, but his acting skills are still juvenile, even after so many years. This shows when he tries his hand at comedy. Despite his attempts to appear energetic and youthful, Sigdel looks like his former self—stoic, wooden and out of place. Sapkota and Gurung—both brilliant actors—try and compensate for Sigdel’s weakness but there’s only so much they can do with a script as awful as the movie’s “Silky Silky Baal” song.

The supporting cast is an ensemble of new faces who’re are clueless about their real roles. Most of the supporting cast looks like actors who had been waiting for a break, and when their chance finally came, ended up overdoing every scene: they are thus loud, unconvincing and sloppy.

The same can’t be said of Magar, probably the only actor in the film who fits her character like a glove. Magar lights up the screen every time she pops up and to see the newcomer portray the young Thakali girl with freshness and simplicity is satisfying.

Finally, what the movie lacks in screenplay and acting, it makes up in deft camerawork and cinematography. Cinematographer Sushan Prajapati has ensured that the audience don’t blink their eye every time the beauty of the Mustang region is captured. He places the characters on best spots and captures them from beautiful angles. Even regular scenes and spots are captured with much thought to give audience the best possible viewpoints.

Who should watch it?

If not for the average screenplay and sub-par performance, one can definitely watch the movie for its excellent cinematography and, yes, some fitting background music. We are also sure Miruna Magar’s fans (and there are plenty of them for sure) will love to see her on this one.

Rating: 2
Actors: Aryan Sigdel, Bholaraj Sapkota, Maotse Gurung
Director: Samten Bhutia
Run time: 2hr 5mins
Genre: Comedy
 

Phoebe Morgan’s second psychological thriller, ‘The Girl Next Door’, received fantastic reviews, just like her debut novel ‘The Doll House’ that was published in 2018. And rightly so because Morgan’s writing is gripping, characters believable, and she sure knows how to convincingly turn things around.

In The Girl Next Door we meet Jane Goodwin who, in her neighborhood, is considered to be a perfect wife with the perfect family. But the fact is, she goes to great lengths to keep up the façade. Things are far from perfect in her household but Jane manages to cover her bruises. When her neighbor, 16-year-old Clare Edwards, goes missing and is found murdered, Jane realizes she has to protect her family, lest her meticulously crafted life starts unraveling.

The premise might seem simple enough, like any other whodunit, but just when you think you have it all figured out, Morgan starts shifting the spotlight on another character, making you rethink your theory. The story is narrated from three different perspectives: by Clare leading up to her death, by her next door neighbor Jane, and then the detective investigating the crime, DS Madeline. Each narration sheds light on crucial clues and makes you question what you considered to be true after completing the previous chapter.

I have always been a sucker for crime fiction and take great pride in the fact that I’ve read so many authors in the genre that, by now, I’m usually able to predict the ending. I have been able to guess the endings of the last few thriller novels I have read halfway through the books. But The Girl Next Door broke my record.

What I loved about The Girl Next Door is that there were times when things felt very unsettling. It gave me the creeps and I actually shuddered a bit. Very rarely has crime fiction had that effect on me in recent years. Though the novel isn’t a killer-on-the-prowl-thriller that makes you want to sleep with the lights on, it’s dark and disturbing and thus messes with your head a bit. The wonderfully layered story has everything to keep you on the edge, a little scared but still unable to let go.

“Marjaavaan” has all it takes to make a blockbuster—a bicep-flexing ‘hero’, his loyal-to-death friends, a petite ‘heroine’, a couple of items numbers, a formidable villain, unrealistic action sequences, and a heavily dramatized climax. This could have brought in flocks of audiences to the cinema if it were the 90s—but it’s not. In the year 2019, when both Indian cinema and the audience have matured enough to celebrate realistic stories and lifelike protagonists, a larger-than-life hero who can pull water tankers with his arms and punch through motorcycle helmets is not welcome—if he’s not Bajirao Singham, Rowdy Rathore, or Chulbul Pandey.

Directed by Milap Zaveri, Marjaavaan is literally a 90s movie, probably written for Sunil Shetty or Sunny Deol, but made in 2019 with Sidharth Malhotra performing the heroic duties as “Raghu”—a gangster with a good heart. Now how many gangsters with good heart stories have we seen? Countless, right? “Marjaavaan” is just one of them, with nothing new in the storyline. Even most songs in the movies are remixes of 90s’ hits. A film can’t be as unoriginal as this.

Now Malhotra, who has played plenty of boy-next-door characters in the past and is still struggling to make a mark in Bollywood, tries to pull off the “angry young man” character in this one but fails miserably. A 90s hero has to have a damsel in distress and this we get in the form of Tara Sutaria who plays “Zoya”, a ‘mute’ music teacher who falls for Raghu at first sight and sets out to reform him. The clichéd repertoire is then complete with Raghu’s arch-nemesis “Vishnu” (Riteish Deshmukh), the dwarf son of Raghu’s boss who is jealous of his father’s fondness for Raghu. And the clichés continue.

As the movie progresses with a lazy screenplay and even worse acting, the audience is nothing but dumfounded at the lack of creativity in this big banner (T-Series) film.

Story-wise, Marjaavaan has an uncanny resemblance to Sanjay Dutt starrer “Aandolan” (1994). In fact, a few scenes and side stories could be directly out of the classic.

What hurts more than the repetitive storyline is the acting of the lead stars. Malhotra, who sure grew up watching actions stars like Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar can’t seem to emulate them. Only flexing the biceps and giving cold stares doesn’t make the audience believe you can take out a dozen goons at once. You need to have that ferocity built into your character.

As for his co-star Sutaria, she’s the weakest link in the movie. Zoya is mute but can hear and expresses herself with sign language. It is evidently clear that Sutaria came ill-prepared to the sets to play Zoya. We can only watch in despair while she struggles to mime through sign languages with zero conviction.

The most disappointing performance in the movie comes from Deshmukh though. Mostly seen in slapstick rom-coms and adult comedies, Deshmukh loses all credibility as a serious actor he won from his performance in “Ek Villain” (2015). Playing a dwarf gang-leader, Deshmukh had the opportunity to carve out a memorable character as Vishnu, but he seems confused on whether to look sinister or funny for the part. Deshmukh’s Vishnu lacks the villainous disposition and ends up looking like just another supporting character.

Overall, despite a big banner name and experienced hands, Marjaavaan is a mistake for everyone involved. It in fact seems like a spoof of 90s Bollywood, but, unfortunately, the filmmakers were making a serious film. There’s no entertainment factor, zero comic relief, and overburdened dialogues without any memorable punchlines—a flop show all the way.

Who should watch it?

This is one film we don’t recommend to anyone. We suggest you skip it even when it is eventually released on Youtube.

Actors:
Sidharth Malhotra
Riteish Deshmukh
Tara Sutaria
Director: Milap Zaveri
Genre: Action/Drama
Run time: 2hr 15mins